When it was reported last week that an AREVA-owned nuclear plant in the south of France was ordered to close temporarily after about 7,925 gallons of unenriched uranium spilled onto the site and into two rivers, it added fuel to concerns around the world that nuclear energy may be riskier than it’s worth. But AREVA spokesman Jarret Adams stated Idahoans needn’t worry about similar leaks at the $2 billion enrichment facility being planned by the company in the Idaho Falls area.
“At the enrichment facilities the amount of liquids that are produced are minimal and, essentially, the small amount of liquids will be filtered and dried, the remainder will be dried and shipped off to a containment facility elsewhere,” he said. “There will not be any contaminated liquid that can possibly leak into the groundwater.”
The spill – which occurred in Bollene, France, near Avignon on June 8 – came less than a week after U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, returned from a fact-finding trip in the country to get an idea of what kind of facility AREVA was planning for the Idaho Falls area.
Adams said the Tricastin plant is very different from the one proposed in Idaho Falls – in addition to an enrichment facility, the Tricastin plant includes a uranium conversion facility, a site for blending and sampling uranium hexafluoride waste, R & D facilities and four reactors. The Idaho Falls plant would only include an enrichment facility.
He added that the Tricastin spill didn’t involve the enrichment plant and was minor in scale.
“It’s an extremely minor event,” he said. “Because the nuclear industry is so highly regulated and so safety conscious, even when a minor event occurs it’s documented and communicated in a very careful manner.”
That doesn’t convince Andrea Shipley, executive director of the Snake River Alliance, an Idaho nuclear watchdog group.
“The credibility and integrity of AREVA is being put into question by them spilling uranium into the water in France,” she said. “It further goes to show that nuclear energy isn’t the best option. It’s risky. These sorts of wastes have a half-life of hundreds-of-thousands of years, and Idaho really needs to be thoughtful as it thinks about the kind of economic and energy development we want to bring into this state.”
Adams said while accidents are not unheard of at nuclear plants, the benefit outstrips the risk.
“In terms of industrial activities, nuclear energy is still one of the safest industrial activities that we use today; it has one of the lowest accident rates, and compared with the amount of electricity we supply, the relative risks of the activity are extremely low,” he said.
AREVA’s Idaho Falls project would employ 250 full-time workers and require about 1,000 people for construction, which could begin as early as 2011.
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10 Comments
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Why doesnt Anne get it through her thick skull that the spill had to do with a nuclear REACTOR plant, not an enrichment plant...... Comment By Logan
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 @ 3:45 PM
Maybe one should stop parsing so carefully the type of plant unless one shows that it mattered to the type of spill. As nearly as I can tell, it didn't, or else AREVA would have said so. I am a supporter of nuclear energy, but it receives real safety regulation, not the "pat ourselves on the back and call an 8,000 gallon spill "extremely minor" approach to safety. We need care, not PR. Comment By Cuhulin
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 @ 4:06 PM
Good grief...There is no parallel to the Areva operations in Tricastin and the Idaho plant. Comment By Lane Allgood
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 @ 5:50 PM
The Areva plant will never be built in Idaho. That plan is already undermined by several pro-small economy groups gathering in the state to stop Boise from selling our wonderful state out from under us. Areva is owned by the French government and their plants are unreliable and dangerous to humans and the natural environment. Idaho doesn't need Areva: Idaho needs to get back to its roots of small, agricultural economies and locally owned businesses. Areva is not welcome here. Comment By Douglas Stambler
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 @ 8:58 PM
Actually Areva is welcome here. Taking Idaho back to its roots is a death knell to our high tech businesses, medium manufacturing, travel and entertainment, etc. Small agricultural economies in an era of mega corporate farming means non-economies. The road to tomorrow is not through yesterday. Comment By Michael Tomlin
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 @ 10:01 PM
Hi Lane and all, From the mining, to the reactor, to the unresolved waste storage fiasco, yes indeed, leaks and contamination ALL along the way. Please visit www.MyIdahoEnergy.com for some other documented nuclear safety problems and some healthy alternatives for Idaho. Please check out the Times-News video link on the broken promises of nuclear waste plutonium clean up, and understand they will care even less about uranium spills. No Deal! No Areva! See: http://videos.magicvalley.com/p/video?id=1984921 Comment By Peter Rickards
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 @ 10:42 PM
Michael I agree the road to tomorrow is not through yesterday and I hope we are willing to change our attitude that what we want is something we need. Lane Allgood is paid to promote the nuclear industry:) The nuclear industry is looking for billions of government subsidies to fund an insane vision of a nuclear powered world, paid for by citizens of the world. The most dangerous aspect of nuclear is not the catastrophic risk posed by it's supply chain and operation but by it's diversion of capital and public good will to the real answer of how we prepare for tomorrow. I applaud IBR for reporting this news, critics are correct in saying Ariva's Idaho plans are different... who cares, really! The risks are clear, the spin is in the costs and we as a State and Country have limited (especially in this economy) treasure to prepare. Our best alternatives are wind, solar, geothermal and conservation. Nuclear is a lie, unless you trust Dick Cheney, Hill & Knowlton and Larry Craig. DK Comment By Not Business as Usual
Wednesday, July 16, 2008 @ 12:29 AM
Accidents do happen, However, there is no small accident when it comes to Nuclear energy and a human life. What will they tell the mother of a child who exposure to nuclear toxins has altered there life forever, just a causality of the corporate future?. Idaho is saturated with paid promoters for Nuclear energy who monitor state, county and local news and any activity against Nuclear energy is attacked. They respond as either an expert or use false identity that appears as if they are a resident in favor of Nuclear energy in there small town. Idaho is being presented with a false choice, the future is here and moving boldly and successfully forward, General Electric estimates its solar energy division will top $1 billion in annual revenue in three years. JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo are investors in the biggest solar plant built in a generation. Beware of selling Idaho's environment, this is our home and it is worth so much more to each of our families and friends lives. We are the care takers of the greatest wilderness in the lower 48. Why sell out to Foreign interest to determine our future, we can do so much better. Comment By Wild West
Thursday, July 17, 2008 @ 1:09 AM
Areva is not welcome in the state of Idaho. Butch Otter and his cronies need to be out of office, and Boise politicians need a wake up call. Idaho is all-American and will stay that way. Comment By Douglas Stambler
Sunday, July 20, 2008 @ 7:06 PM
Slight correction: In the third paragraph it incorrectly says the spill happened June 8 - that should be July 8. Also, news reports this weekend said another leak has been found at a different plant. Reuters story below: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSL182941520080718 Comment By Zach Hagadone
Monday, July 21, 2008 @ 11:18 AM
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